On this day, June 12 according to the Julian Calendar (June 25 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates the Venerable Onuphrius the Great, one of the greatest of the Egyptian Desert Fathers, who reposed around 400 AD.
The Venerable Onuphrius was born in Persia to royal parents. As a young child, he was placed in an Egyptian monastery where he received a monastic upbringing and education. Burning with the desire for deeper prayer and solitude, he eventually left the monastery and went alone into the remote Egyptian desert, where he lived for the remainder of his long life.
Onuphrius spent approximately sixty years alone in the desert, having no contact with other human beings. He was sustained miraculously: a palm tree provided him with twelve clusters of dates — one for each month — and a spring of pure water quenched his thirst. His only clothing was his own hair, which had grown to cover his body, and a few leaves.
He was discovered near the end of his life by the monk Paphnutius, who had set out into the desert seeking the holy fathers. Paphnutius found Onuphrius sitting by the ruins of a small cell, white-haired and awe-inspiring, his body covered with hair and leaves. Onuphrius told Paphnutius his story, received the holy sacraments from him, and then peacefully reposed in the Lord. Angels bore his soul to heaven as Paphnutius watched.
The Venerable Onuphrius is one of the towering figures of the desert monastic tradition, representing the highest ideal of solitary prayer and union with God.
May the intercessions of the Venerable Onuphrius the Great be with us all.